How To Make Your Own Healthy Trail Mix, and Why Raw and Organic is Better | Vegan

I’ve been making my own trail mixes for a while now. It is after all, very easy to make, but there’s also another reason why it’s best to make it ourselves. Let’s consider this, and then I’ll share with you my recipe to make your own healthy raw trail mix.

Why avoid commercial trail mix?

I discovered a few years back about the added chemicals on dried fruits and trail mix. A lot of dried fruits have synthetic sulphites on them, a chemical that more and more people are increasingly becoming allergic to (although some foods naturally produce a small amount of sulphites, the kind that is used in prepared foods is synthetically made — i.e., NOT natural). Myself included.

I always knew that my face would get red when I’d drink wine, especially white, but I’ve never paid too much attention, mostly because I’ve been eating from-scratch and healthy for so long, until last year when I was in Europe, and I wanted to eat those little cornichons as a treat. I couldn’t find any organic ones, so I bought a small bottle of non-organic cornichons at the grocery store to put in our sandwiches. All of the rest of the ingredients were organic and I had it in the days previous to that. Within 5 minutes after eating my sandwich, my face was red as a beet, swollen a bit, and burning!!! My face was on fire! I wondered why it was doing that, so I started going through all the ingredients of my sandwich, until I realized that the only new part of that sandwich were the baby pickles (cornichons). I looked at the ingredient list, and there it was… the last ingredient: sulphites! Since this event, I’ve had a couple of other food-related allergic reactions with other ingredients that contained sulphites.

Also, unless you’re buying organic trail mix, these would be made with nuts that have been sprayed with pesticides/herbicides, etc. That is toxic for us and is also killing the bees (almonds grown in California are one of the worst culprits for that), and, unless these nuts come from outside of the U.S., they would’ve been irradiated. In case you’re not familiar, irradiation is like pasteurization, they heat the food to a high temperature that makes them sterile. All the nutrients are dead. Irradiated almonds cannot be sprouted. On top of irradiation, most of the commercial trail mixes have roasted nuts. Just in case if there were any nutrients or enzymes left in the nuts, they are now dead, plus roasted nuts go rancid pretty fast, so we end up eating nutrient-deficient and rancid oil nuts. Not very appealing and definitely not as healthy as eating raw organic nuts. 😉

Some other foods and drinks which contain sulphites:

Canned or frozen fruits and vegetables

Fruit or vegetable juices

Jams, jellies and other preserves

Dried fruits or vegetables

Cereal, cornmeal, cornstarch, crackers and muesli

Potatoes which are dehydrated, mashed, peeled and pre-cut

Tomato pastes, pulps and purees

Condiments like ketchup, mustard, and relishes

Vinegar

Alcoholic and non-alcoholic wine, beer and cider

Baked goods like granola bars

Deli meats, hot dogs and sausages

Dressings, gravies, sauces and soups

Dehydrated fish, crustaceans and shellfish

Noodle and rice mixes

Soy products

You may also find sulphites in items like gelatin or pectin, sweeteners like dextrose, glucose solids and syrup or molasses and even in medications and pharmaceuticals!

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Hello! Bonjour!

I'm Gabrielle, Certified Nutritionist (RHN) and Wellness Coach. I changed my eating habits 16 years ago, and never looked back! I truly believe that we can achieve health through food and a healthy lifestyle. I've done it, and so can you! Read More…

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This website is written and produced for informational and educational purposes only. It is made to share information so that you increase your knowledge and make your own decisions, but I still need to write this disclaimer anyway. Content should not be considered a substitute for professional medical expertise. The reader assumes full responsibility for consulting a qualified health professional before starting a new diet or health program. Please seek professional help regarding any health conditions or concerns. The writer(s) and publisher(s) of this site are not responsible for adverse reactions, effects, or consequences resulting from the use of any recipes or suggestions herein or procedures undertaken hereafter.
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